Rome Travel Forum

My friend and I planning to travel to Rome in dec for 3-4 weeks. We wish to celebrate christmas and new year there. This is our first trip to europe country for 3 asians. Below are some concerns tat we have:

1) is dec a peak season? How cold will it be?
2) any cheap hostel near the termini and metro? What is price like?
3) will US$100 per day enough for all the expenses like food, entrance fees, public transport and some souvenir?
4) any suggested itinerary? is spending 3-4 weeks in rome too long? if yes, which nearby countries can we go? preferrably by train or buses.
5) Where to celebrate christmas and new year countdown?

Thanking u in advance!

Hi there. Although I haven't been in Rome around Christmas I think it would be lovely as I spent November in Europe last year and many cities were already in the festive mood.

December is not peak season but Rome is busy all year round. It will be cool, in the low 50's and the days will be short, however with so much time at your disposal you wont have to rush your sightseeing at all.

I cant recommend any hostels but there are numerous reasonably priced hotels around Termini. I think some hotels do inflate their prices at Christmas so I would start looking around now for the best prices. A self contained apartment with its own cooking facilities may be a good option as food can get rather expensive.

US$100 per day for expenses is probably just enough if you dont eat out for every meal.

I'm not sure if I would totally agree that Rome will not be a very crowded place near the Christmas holidays. It seems to me that many people would be making religious pilgrimages to Rome, and also attending the holiday masses. The web site for the Vatican: www.vatican.va. They don't currently have the holiday masses posted on their calendar, but you can check back later for dates. For lodging you might wish to look at the following sites, find lodging that meets your requirements, and then re-post questions on those. You also could check the Rome travel guide here at VT, or member pages for information. (1) www.hostelworld.com, (2) www.ahotelinitaly.com,(3) www.bedandbreakfast.com/rome-italy.html,(4) www.rentinginitaly.com,(5) www.knowital.com, (6) a b & b specific site: www.manzonihouse.com/en/index.html. Since you may spend a bit of time in Rome, you may wish to look at extended stay options: (1) www.homeaway.com, (2) www.vrbo.com, among others. Gary

For transport and museum discounts, check out: www.romapass.it, for events, concerts, exhibitions, etc, you can visit: www.whatsonwhen.com. You need to re-check from time to time, as both sites can update frequently. Gary

Just a quick bit of advice, over the New Year period (specifically the 30th and 31st of Dec) all the hotels inflate their prices dramatically, usually double their normal rate and the rate you will have been paying before-hand. Word of warning there - watch out for that.

We tried to find cheap hostels or b&b:s from Rome and found out,that all of those where more expensive than hotels we found in www.venere.com There was doubble-rooms from 54e for night,and cheapest hostel we found was 55e without private toilet and bathroom!This was for summertime,but you might want to look from there,too.There was lots of hotels under and little over 60euros for a room for two!

there is a lot to see in italy, and the train system is excellent - rome is a large venue and 3-4 weeks is a long time when there are so many things to see - florence, siena, venice etc. i would think that maybe moving from rome after a few days to florence, and using it as a base to go to see tuscany might be a good idea - verona is a city that is my favorite and it is in the veneto - so you can go to venice via train easily from there - if you watch your money - stick to a buget - it can be reasonable - the food is excellent - and skipping a meal, having pizza - or getting something from the many food places along the streets can be done.

I would consider asking if you were going to italy for 3-4 weeks, what might do - lot of good travelers and pages from members. I just came back from 2 weeks there, and we flew into zurich, and took a train south into italy - we stayed in Lake Come, then onto a place near florence for a week - and went to the Cinque Terra (well worth looking into it), pisa, lucca, florence, siena. we then went to assisi, and rome, then onto verona for a few days.

good luck

Noted response which included info on Lake Como. Could that person please give me an idea for either an apartment or bed and breakfast in Lake Como for 4 nights, and as reasonable price as possible ?

Noted response which included info on Lake Como. Could that person please give me an idea for either an apartment or bed and breakfast in Lake Como for 4 nights, and as reasonable price as possible ?